Below are examples of query letters I've written to producers with
success - that is, they requested a script. One was written to for
the first time; another had read past scripts of mine and had requested
to be informed of my new work. (I've changed their names.)
The one-sheet mentioned below is a single sheet, like a flier, that pitches the script. I like using them, although some writers don't.
I became aware of one-sheets when producers would say, "Send me a one-sheet on it." Now I use them regularly, sending them with a small cover letter.
Dear Mr. Jones:
I'm very excited about my new screenplay, THE SENATOR'S WIFE. A
one-sheet is enclosed.
I've sold four options to independent producers, one of which is
still active. I teach college screenwriting and am the webmaster
of the Screenwriters & Playwrights Home Page.
I came to screenwriting from playwriting and have had over two
dozen plays produced. The public television version of my comedy
CHRISTMAS AT THE JUNIPER TAVERN won a regional ACE award.
May I send you THE SENATOR'S WIFE?
Dear Ms. Smith:
Since you’ve been interested in my work in the past, I am enclosing
a one-sheet for my new script, THE SENATOR'S WIFE.
Thanks for the consideration.
Now this is all well and good. But what happens when you are starting out and don't have much in the way of credentials?
In this case, you might want to put the pitch in the letter to grab a producer's attention. For example:
Dear Ms. Smith:
Greg Apple has never gotten over his high school sweetheart, who
is now the wife of a famous conservative senator. When he sees her
at his high school reunion, he falls in love with her all over again.
To make the temptation greater, he learns she is unhappy and that
she gave birth to his son after graduation.
And now the teenager wants to meet his birth parents.
But all is not as it seems, and "the senator's wife" uses Greg for
her own purposes as she seductively leads him into a world of political
blackmail, corruption and betrayal.
THE SENATOR'S WIFE is a suspense thriller about a kind small-town man
who gets sucked into the ugliness of Washington politics - but still
manages to come out with his values intact.
It's a political BODY HEAT with more brains.
May I send you the script?
I studied screenwriting at the University of Montana and have
participated in a number of script workshops.
You would want, of course, to beef up your credentials as best you honestly can. Keep the letter under a page at all costs.
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting8/97